Review Fix Exclusive: Charles Dennard Talks ‘Deep Blue’ And More

Review Fix chats with composer Charles Dennard, who lets us know why his latest release, Deep Blue, is a special one for him.

About Deep Blue:

The newest release by Charlie Dennard comprises seven original compositions by the outstanding keyboardist, composer, and arranger. The tunes on this album are a mix of New Orleans-style jazz and compositions with a darker hue, not unlike recordings on the ECM label, which have been major influences on Dennard’s composing and playing. His playing is subtle with a relaxed approach, which he credits to his teacher, the legendary Ellis Marsalis, with whom he studied for a Master’s Degree in Music at the University of New Orleans.

Review Fix: What inspired Deep Blue?

Charles Dennard: Basically I had a 3 month break last year between contracts with Cirque so I decided to use that opportunity to finish a few tunes that I had been working on over the years and force myself to complete this creative project of all original material. I think it’s kind of obvious musically that New Orleans (especially Ellis Marsalis) and the ECM record label inspired a significant portion of my musical endeavors on this project too…

Review Fix: Major life lessons learned?

Dennard: That the business model for making records is not a good investment from a financial perspective… Not many people are buying music anymore so it’s more for exposure than anything else. That being said, I’m still glad to have made it (mostly for archive purposes) and that it’s getting played and appreciated by a few. I think there’s been a lot of gratitude for all of my musician friends who contributed and participated as well so that’s always better than money or material matters…

Review Fix: How this made me a better musician?

Dennard: Definitely helped to give me a little more confidence regarding my own composition and production skills. I’m still surprised by how well it has done on the JazzWeek charts and all of the really good reviews so far! I think each time you go through this process you (hopefully) learn a little and continue to improve. Memorizing and arranging most of these songs was a bit of a challenge (musically) so I definitely feel like it was a step in a positive direction for me to have completed this step.

Review Fix: How do I want it to be remembered?

Dennard: As a really good record with really nice compositions and production…

Review Fix: How will it contribute to my musical legacy?

Dennard: That I am still improving and that (as a composer and keyboardist) I am developing more of a unique sound that is my own and comes from my major influences.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Dennard: I’m already about half way done with composing the songs for the next recording. This one will be a mix of small orchestral instruments with some ambient electronic sounds along with an acoustic jazz trio foundation… Seriously considering adding some guest vocalists as well. It will definitely be interesting.

Review Fix: Anything else?

Dennard: Still on tour for the rest of the year with Cirque (Totem) in Europe so will be back and forth a good bit from there to home in New Orleans. Please check my website and the PR material from Holly for any other info about Deep Blue that you may find helpful and/or pertinent.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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